His Agent Of Life

His Agent of Life: The Holy Spirit’s Sanctifying Work in the Believer via the Church

Lancelot T. M. Schaubert Doctrine of the Christian Experience - DO 525 Mark E. Moore

2009

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Table of Contents Thesis: Is the Confessing Church the Holy Spirit’s primary sanctifying agent? Introduction I.

The Essence and Facets of Sanctification

II.

The Acceptance of Sanctification on an Individual Basis

III.

Sanctification through the Church a. Sanctifying Truth b. Sacramental Sanctification c. Spiritual Disciplines Facilitate Sanctification

d. The Imago Destiny IV.

The Fruit of the Spirit: The Servant’s Life by the Spirit

Conclusion / Application

Schaubert 3 His Agent of Life: The Holy Spirit’s Sanctifying Work in the Believer via the Church “My faith is just between me and God.” Though this phrase may not come from the mouths of all Christians, most westerners allow this thought to permeate their way of life.1 Faith appears to find expression for most through the individual acts of pious deeds more than through the proactive love that Christ initiated. The barometers and thermometers for the Christian pilgrimage seem to have more to do with a personal checklist of rituals than with sacrificial love evidenced by the fruit of the Spirit. To judge someone, even a false prophet, by his or her fruits (Matthew 7:15-17) has more to do with qualifications than relationships. Jesus, after all, defined his life not by slips of paper, rituals, and resumes, but rather in the context of relationships. More must take place For the Christian to be formed in Jesus’ likeness (Romans 8:29), than the current list of religious-looking activities. At the outset, this paper expresses the biblical answer to the question: is the Confessing Church the Holy Spirit’s primary sanctifying agent? A definition of sanctification will be offered and a description of its communal nature will follow. Briefly, the history of the individualistic sanctification primarily through Bible study and personal worship will come into play. Then the argumentation for sanctification primarily through the confessing, or faithful, church will be presented. Altogether, this paper may be summarized as such: The Holy Spirit’s primary agent of sanctification in the believer is the confessing church. God created man relationally in His image and continually turns fallen man into the likeness of His Son Jesus through the truth of the Gospel, the sacraments of baptism and communion, spiritual disciplines, and spiritual gifts. I. The Essence and Facets of Sanctification To begin, what is sanctification? Sanctification has been defined as “a progressive work of God and man that makes us more and more free from sin and like Christ in our actual lives.”2 Indeed sanctification makes us more like Christ and frees us from sin, but behind this quote lies engraved a 1

Willard, Dallas, Renovation of the Heart (Colorado Springs: Nav Press, 2002) 182.

2

Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids: IVP, 1994) 746.

Schaubert 4 misunderstanding of how this comes about. It most certainly affects our actual lives, and works reciprocally between God and man, but from the outset Grudem assumes to some extent that this occurs between the individual and God. Instead, this paper will define sanctification as “a progressive work of ownership3 between Creator and created that only occurs through coming into contact with what has already been set apart.” This idea of sanctification finds its roots in the Hebrew word qādaŝ, which means, essentially, “to separate” or “to divide.” qādaŝ carries in it the notion of something that is “set apart” or “consecrated.” This happens when God confiscates an individual, community, or material away from the wicked or cultic realm of the world and sets it apart for Himself. Thus, they are made “holy.” God sanctified Israel as a nation (Exodus 19:10) and now His church as “a chosen people, . . . a holy nation, a people belonging to God” (1 Peter 2:9).4, 5 When something belongs to God, He sanctifies it through His rightness of being that rises above all that is created. His righteousness sanctifies in two forms – direct presence, or relational contact. Direct presence from God can turn the simplest of objects into the most sacred. Holy ground (Exodus 3:5) describes the account of God’s immediate presence in the burning bush and the surrounding area.6 God’s presence resided in the holy of holies (Psalm 28:2).7 Wherever God dwells, those places His glory shows, becomes holy. For this reason, the sanctuary (Exodus 26:33; Nehemiah 9:14) concedes in holiness to the purity of the holiest of holies (Exodus 26:3; Numbers 18:10). Moses “put limits around 3

By the term ownership, I am including three aspects sanctification: it affects our actual lives (as a tool is used by a master – see articles in 2 Timothy 2:20-22), that it frees us from sin (as a sort of diplomatic immunity – see ambassadors in 2 Corinthians 5:19-21), and that makes us like Christ Himself (as a seal which guarantees our future of perfected humanity – see seal of ownership in 2 Corinthians 1:20-22). 4 Melvin E. Dieter, et al., Five Views on Sanctification (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1987) 30. 5

All scriptural quotations will be taken from the New International Version.

6 See also Joshua 5:13-15, where the commander of the Lord’s army commands Joshua to take off his sandals. Angels are sometimes seen as epiphanies (an ‘Angel of the LORD’), not to mention that they have been in the throne room of God and fit into the second category of “relational contact.” 7

See Hebrews 9 for an explanation of the Holy Spirit and his presence in the Most Holy Place, specifically how Christ allows us to enter today.

Schaubert 5 the mountain and set it apart as holy” because God’s presence resided there (Exodus 19:23). Even Moses himself was made holy by God’s direct presence (Exodus 34:33,35; Numbers 12:8; 2 Corinthians 3:13). Though God Almighty remains the source of sanctification, His direct presence is not the primary agent for sanctification in the world. Rather, sanctification comes primarily through relational contact with what is already sanctified by the immediate presence of God.8 As mentioned previously, the holy of holies held the presence of God. Its relational contact thus made the temple (Isaiah 64:10,11; 1 Chronicles 19:3), the temple grounds (Isaiah 11:9; 56:7), and the very city of Jerusalem all holy (Isaiah 48:2; 52:1; Nehemiah 11:1, 18). Moses, who had encountered God’s presence, sanctified the people (Exodus 19:10-14) and the items to be used in the sanctuary (Exodus 2527). Then he anointed Aaron and the priests and so sanctified the priesthood (Exodus 28 & 29). The priests, having been relationally connected to the holiness of God would operate the entire sacrificial system (the book of Leviticus) and thus continuing sanctification until the time of Jesus.9 As Christ came, He redefined the idea of holiness. The Greek word for sanctification is hagiazō (a[giazw). Jesus gained complete authority as high priest through being both the priest and the object of sacrifice (Hebrews 9). 10 “When He sanctifies himself (John 17:19), or His church (Ephesians 5:26), this is a proof of His deity, and the same is true of the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:16).”11 God’s holy ones (a[gioi) operate with the sanctity and love – the very nature – of God Himself. Peter employs God’s counsel to Israel for the church “I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16, quoting Leviticus 11:44). Continuing on, Peter begs Christians, “Just as he who 8

This is not an all-inclusive statement to say that holy ground, the mountain, Moses, and the holy of holies, are the only occurrences of God’s immediate presence producing sanctification, but rather that as the standards, they illustrate the point of relational contact being the dominante mode of sanctification. 9

Procksch “a[gioj” Theological Dictionary of the New Testament Ed. Gerhard Kittel, vol. 2 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2006) 88-93. 10

Procksch “a[gioj”, 101.

11

Procksch “a[gioj”, 111.

Schaubert 6 called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy’” (1 Peter 1:1516). In this call, which came positioned between the priestly regulations for the community, Peter reminds Christians of God’s mark of ownership upon their lives. This is no theoretical holiness, unattainable to the church. Rather, God created His people to be in relation with Him and with one another, in order to sanctify them (1 Corinthians 1:2; Ephesians 5:25-27; Romans 15:16; 1 Thessalonians 5:23).12 God’s sanctification in relation to His people, as hagiazō (a[giazw) is normally used, will serve as the topic of further discussion. His church is the continuation of the temple (Ephesians 2:21-22) as well as the priesthood (1 Peter 2:4-5). Through the church, like the temple and the priesthood long past, the world is introduced to sanctification not only by the holiness of God through relational contact, but also the idea of freedom from sin. Two features accompany this freedom from sin, both of which lead to a final state of sanctification. In this final state, we are transformed into the image of Jesus and united with God as well as those who have died in Christ. The church introduces the entire process through what some call regeneration, or being born again. Paul speaks of the “washing of rebirth [or regeneration] and renewal in the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5). When a person enters into the loving relationship with Jesus Christ, they have been revived. Christ is the center, the fulcrum, and the very axis of our sanctification. His love, given to us, initiates our conversion at regeneration. Once this occurs, we are exhorted by the apostles and the church to no longer live in a habitual pattern of sin (1 John 3:9), but rather develop into the sort of people who do not acquiesce to sin.13 As life continues, sanctification intensifies and develops. In general, most theologians focus on the process of sanctification rather than the one-time action of salvation. Paul does indeed contend that we have been released from the bonds of sin (Romans 6:18), because we are dead to sin and alive to God (Romans 6:11), but there is still sin in life that must be dealt with and we must not allow it to hold sway 12

Dieter, 30-31.

13

Grudem, 747.

Schaubert 7 (Romans 6:12-13). He commands the Colossians to speak truth, and not to deceive one another but to “put on the new nature, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator” (Colossians 3:10, emphasis mine); hence pointing out that sanctification transforms our mind alongside of our tongue and works. This holistic transformation of our souls is fully accomplished on death, and for our bodies at the eschaton. 14 All people have a negative side in need of disposal, which is displayed by Peter when he urges us “to abstain sinful desires, which war against [our] soul” (1 Peter 2:11). Among these are sexual sins, impurity, greediness, obscenity, foolish talk, and other such desires (Colossians 3: 5; Ephesians 5:3-5; 1 Thessalonians 4:3-7). But more importantly than the lists of the things we should avoid,15 is the standard for what we will become, namely, the image of Christ Jesus. This happens when we are “transformed by the renewing of our mind” (Romans 12:2) and increasingly develop the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22).16 None of the fruits mentioned in the Galatians passage can manifest without love. Paul describes love in his discourse on spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12-14) as the “most excellent way” or what could perhaps be called in context “the most excellent spiritual gift” (1 Corinthians 12:31). This ideal would have resonated in the hearts of his Hellenistic audience, whereas Jesus reached for the minds of the Jews. Jesus himself summed up all 613 laws in the Torah by the words “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment” (Matthew 22:37-39, emphasis mine). Peter shows love as the summit on the list of godly qualities that we should “possess . . . in increasing measure” (2 Peter 1:3-8). These qualities characterize God Himself, and show forth in the life of Christ as well as within 1 Corinthians 13. God’s love transcends that of friends or brothers, and radiates out of His very heart. Loving as a family will not suffice. Only the love 14

15

Grudem, 748-749. See also Galatians 5:20-21; Romans 1:28-32; 2 Timothy 3:1-9.

Grudem, 756. 16

Willard, 223.

Schaubert 8 of God Almighty will do (John 13:34). Within scripture, the love of God, when describing the “children of light,” always shines as the supreme exchange, fulfilling and finalizing every divine increase toward sanctification.17 Specifically in Ephesians 4:15-5:8ff, Paul first exhorts the church to persist in “speaking the truth in love” (4:15) and “building [the whole body] up in love” (4:16). He then connects these statements to their life as “children of light, for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth” (Ephesians 5:8-9). God set his people apart out of love for the world and sent His Son to save them (John 3:16-18). Hebrews 12:2 reveals that Christ subjected himself to scorn for joy’s sake, which points back to the “great cloud of witnesses” of chapter 11 (Hebrews 12:1). His joy set before Him is in His witnesses, His church. The Holy Spirit works on our hearts through the truth of the Gospel expressed in love (1 Peter 1:2, 10-12). Love entirely initiates and concludes our relationship with God and with people. If sanctification chiefly concerns love, then the very essence of sanctification is social. Many large sections of the Old Testament could illustrate this such as “[God desires] mercy not sacrifice” (Hosea 6:6) or the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:1-9), but none so directly addresses social sanctification as Isaiah 58. In this passage, Isaiah rebukes his people for fasting in vain. Not only does he rebuke their abhorrent practices, but he mentions that “the kind of fasting [God has] chosen [is] to loose the chains of injustice . . . to set the oppressed free . . . [and] to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter – when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood” (Isaiah 58:6-7). True sanctification surely exists in a social context, a relational contact called love.

17

See Romans 5:5; 1 Corinthians 13; Galatians 5:14; Ephesians 4:15-16; Colossians 3:14; 1 John 4:16.

Schaubert 9 Love, whether erotic, social, familial, or dutiful, can only exist in relationships.18 Because of this, personal transformation into the divine is overwhelmingly communal and cannot be merely individualized. Those who see spiritual formation as purely confidential, similar to an isolated file in a doctor’s office, have grossly mistaken the process for the progress. The fact that different people mature at different paces, does not mean that the “narrow road” is a lonely one (Matthew 17:13-14). For the spiritual man, because everything bears on his relationship with God, the community profoundly affects him. Dallas Willard argues that everything that dwells in the expanse between a person and God influences the person, and that influence transforms the person’s bond to the community. The bond with the community also transforms the person and profoundly affects their relationship to God.19 Compassion – this charity and love – will not properly form within us if we maintain a position that ignores our personal life as a portion in the existence of “a whole super natural organism to which I belong . . . . Solitude, humility, self-denial, action and contemplation, the sacraments, the monastic life, the family, war and peace – none of these make sense except in relation to the central reality which is God’s love living and acting in those whom He has incorporated in His Christ.”20 John Donne claimed, “No man is an island, entire of itself, every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.”21 Our sanctification only exists within the context of love, and love can only occur in relationships. Unfortunately, many would disagree.

18 Love, at its core, is a giving of self for the benefit of another. True love is not a matter of any one form of love, but rather any form wherein a person loses himself in giving to another. Therefore lust, at its core, is not love. Though it involves other people in the idea of casual sex, rape, or even blind encounters, it is not love. Internet pornography surely isolates a person, and, however erotic, is not erotic love. Duty to a country or corporation outside of relationships is not love, but contract. Surely there are those who stay in a marriage out of duty, but have long forsaken dutiful love. Loyalty in this form is self-serving stubbornness motivated by a desire to not be shamed. Love, being self-giving, can only exist in relationships with others. This one fact paints love’s beauty in complex forms that only God himself can fully understand. 19

20

21

Willard, 182. Thomas Merton, No Man is an Island (Orlando: Harcourt Brace Javanovich, 1983) xxii-xxiii. John Donne, quoted in Merton, xxiii.

Schaubert 10 II. The Acceptance of Sanctification on an Individual Basis For quite some time, the imagery involved in sanctification has revolved around personal Bible study and worship. Vine’s Dictionary declares that “[sanctification] cannot be transferred or imputed, it is an individual possession, built up, little by little, as the result of obedience to the Word of God and of following the example of Christ.”22 Though much truth lies imbedded in this declaration, the whole of truth is not contained. Focus is sustained on the individual. One major influence in this line of thought can be traced back to Martin Luther and the Reformation, and rightly so, for he translated the Bible into German. This is not to say that there were no other influences to individualism, merely that Lutheran ideology help bring this about. Johann Gutenberg’s printing press aided Luther’s mass-production of the Bible. Soon the common peasant owned a copy of the German Bible, and as a result, people far and wide had a Bible in their hands.23 When Luther stopped by several churches and some schools in Saxony in his 1528 survey of the German states, he found biblical illiteracy, ignorance, and a general apathy toward spiritual development. This ignited within him a passion for a universal education tied to Christianity, which was a noble pursuit in itself.24 Unfortunately, such a firm push can plow through key concepts, and the relational side of sanctification was lost in the greatness that was Christian education. Bible study became a chief way for a person to encounter God, and “faith expressing itself in love” (Galatians 5:6) – the only thing that matters, was gently plowed over. Some interpret his exclusion of the book of James from the cannon, calling it the “epistle of straw,” 25 as emphasizing faith alone and excluding works. James says, “Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, ‘Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead” (James 2:15-17). Luther the man 22

W.E. Vine, Vine’s Amplified Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words (Iowa Falls: Word Bible, 1991) 698. emphasis mine. 23

Hugh Craigh, A Popular History of Germany Vol.4 (New York: Henry J. Johnson, 1878) 1387.

24

James Riley Estep Jr., et. al., The Heritage of Christian Education (Joplin: College Press, 2003) 9:6-7.

25

Thomas Carlyle, Life of Martin Luther (New York: American Book Exchange, 1879) 248.

Schaubert 11 might not have foreseen it or wanted it, but others have read his exclusion in highly individualistic tones. With Luther’s emphasis on bible study firmly established, future generations amplified his momentum to form a primarily personal sanctification. Others have continued on this tradition of a primarily personal sanctification. Andrew Murray thought that yielding to the Spirit would in turn bring about the building up of believers as one into a house of God, rather than the Spirit working through the church to create a general yielding to his presence, a craving for truth, and fuller obedience. Murray saw community as only part of the end rather than the primary mode of sanctification.26 Common Quaker thought teaches life lived “from the Center” – which is Quaker Holy Spirit language for a life lived from the inside out. For Quakers, finding our center is a way to resonate with the Holy Spirit in order to find strength to enact love into the world. Thomas R. Kelly speaks of this center and how we live life “on the basis of inner guidance and whispered promptings of encouragement from the Center of life,” and that through this, more than anything, God works in our world. Through this centering our life becomes one of easygoing serenity and strength.27 Unfortunately, modern-day individualists have taken this to an extreme – finding their “center” as more of escapism than a source of strength. For modern spiritualism, finding a center has little to do with the Holy Spirit and community and everything to do with individual relaxation and comfort. Neil Anderson and Robert Saucy employ the concept of a teeter-totter to show that some people place too much emphasis on the different facets of sanctification.

Jesus is seen in this illustration as the

fulcrum, the center, and the hinge of the teeter-totter. One side of the seesaw seats those who elevate the past tense truths, maintaining their perfected “holiness” in the now. This view, which does not work salvation out into every day life, glazes over the presence of personal sin in their lives. These people neglect their obligation toward growth by claiming God’s sovereignty to sanctify people (the result of an over-realized eschatology). On the other side sit those who glaze over those crucial past-tense truths that 26

Randal Harris, The Contemporaries Meet the Classics on the Holy Spirit (Los Angeles: Howard, 2004)

27

Thomas R. Kelly, quoted in Harris, 123-124.

109.

Schaubert 12 so ground us in a relevant, current position to Jesus. Forgetting their freedom in the grace of Christ, they work with all their ability to remain saved. Those who forget freedom in Christ, and its implications in the present, normally have a negative outlook on Christians. These Christians struggle most of their life “to become somebody they already are.”28 So the two sides support “once saved always saved” and “almost saved always trying” respectively. Granted, Anderson is arguing for the development of ownership concerning the responsibility for sanctification. However, in either case, whether the burden is placed entirely on God or on the individual, the focus is on the self rather than others. Instead of focusing on others, one will do nothing but attempt to become sanctified, and perhaps never learn to truly love. Whether it is Anderson’s see-saw of theology, the Quaker swing set of personal worship, or Luther’s slide of Bible study, the idea of an individualistic sanctification highly influences the five most common views of sanctification: Wesleyan, Reformed, Keswick, Pentecostal, and AugustinianDispensational. For all five, sanctification begins at either conversion or at the second work of the spirit known as holy-spirit baptism (Pentecostal). All agree that God’s grace, in some form or another, brings about salvation and forms the believer to the image of Christ. Each has different terminologies for this, but each agrees that God both has a distinct part and is the starting point. The Augustinian-Dispensational view holds the baptism of the Holy Spirit as bringing the believer into the body of Christ, which facilitates his ability to commune, become empowered, and to yield fruit. Aside from some Wesleyan thought, this is generally the closest any view comes to a communal sanctification. Curiously, the majority holds man’s responsibility as having little to do with community, save the reformed view, which mentions service to the body of Christ. Some could be inferred, but for the most part, many see man’s part in sanctification simply involving death to sin and fulfilling the law.29 Wesley, however, was a huge advocate of biblical preaching, especially to the masses, for he saw salvation come to people whenever there was a great renewal of preaching and submission to God. Convinced long before he encountered

113.

28

Neil Anderson and Robert Saucy, The Common Made Holy (Eugene: Harvest House, 1997) 183.

29

H. Wayne House, Charts of Christians Theology and Doctrine (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1992) 112-

Schaubert 13 the Moravians, Wesley concluded the aim of Christianity was to live in the presence of God with a perfected love. His attempt at discerning the whole of truth alone resulted in a depressive state, much like Catholicism did for Luther in his pre-reformation years. Concluding that sanctification was “faith working by love,” he began to use his faith as a means toward perfected love.30 Faith working by love has been overshadowed in present-day circles where men contemplate spiritual growth. Instead, the solutions are quite unbelievable, for what “most people mean by spiritual growth . . . . [is] an industry, a system, a set of principles, formulas, training programs, curricula, books, and tapes which, if followed, promise to produce maturity and depth.”31 Westerners are a do-it-yourself people that want to take something as beautiful as love and do-it-themselves. So Jesus is reduced to a great moral teacher who had some stunning insights and moral suggestions, but in fact He meant to do nothing more than offer pithy sayings to be marketed on the self-improvement aisle at Borders®. Indeed, Jesus was truly the greatest teacher that ever lived. His sayings are timeless, transcending the fabrics of time, culture, and religion, but His sayings are nothing without His actions, His very death and resurrection. Love motivated all He did – His love for the Father and for His church. Though He absolutely altered the first-century ideal of a Kingdom as Messiah, never once did he intend to fabricate a transfer of entirely internal and confidential inspiration. As the King, He would establish God’s Lordship in the world. The kingdom would come here and now.32 If Jesus’ primary role of establishing God’s Lordship was through the love of His dying sigh and as resurrected Lord, then does that love continue? Some would argue that the Holy Spirit Himself picks up where Jesus left off, not as a replacement, but as a continuation of his ministry. Certainly John 16:5-15 supports this ideal. Luke opens the book of Acts with reference to his Gospel which covered “all that Jesus began to do and to teach” and then immediately jumps into the role of the Holy Spirit working in the Apostles (Acts 1:1-2, emphasis mine). 30

Dieter, 20.

31

Michael Yaconelli, Messy Spirituality (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002) 88.

32

N.T Wright, Who Was Jesus? (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1992) 57.

Schaubert 14 Because Jesus inaugurated this Kingdom of Love, and His church through the Holy Spirit carries on His work, then this sanctification, this turning into the image of Christ through faith working in love, cannot be do-it-yourself. It does not revolve around Bible study, or personal worship, though these are wonderfully important to the Christian life. Sanctification stands in love.33 III. Sanctification through the Church Thus far, sanctification has been proven to flow from the source of God’s presence primarily through the veins of relational contact. Though many have come to misunderstand sanctification as a purely individual act of piety, in truth it cannot occur outside the love of the confessing church, for this is the Holy Spirit’s chosen agent. From this foundation, a full understanding of sanctification shows in how the Spirit specifically uses the church to sanctify the believer. God created man relationally – in His image – and continually turns fallen man into the likeness of His Son, Jesus, through the truth of the Gospel, the sacraments of baptism and communion, spiritual disciplines, and spiritual gifts. Sanctifying Truth God’s love blossomed in the gardens. The first garden resulted from the living and active word of God (Hebrews 4:12) sounding out into nothingness and creating. “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us” (John 1:14). He found His way to a second garden, much darker and despairing than the first garden in the first week of life. Jesus, the living Word of God, the truth by whom the world approaches God (John 14:6), knelt in the garden to pray. Blood mixed with his sweat as his stress surmounted,34 the burden of becoming the curse of some 40 billion damned sinners weighing upon His shoulders (Luke 22:42-44). Only an hour or so before, He sat around a table with his disciples who had been His closest friends, His brothers, for the last three years or so. Only an hour ago He prayed the most 33

From this point forward, love will be seen as a motivator, catalyst, and sustainer of true sanctification. Sanctification itself is an act of love, but must never be equated with love. 34

Mark Moore, The Chronological Life of Christ, Vol. 2 (Joplin: College Press, 1997) 259.

Schaubert 15 heart-wrought prayer prayed by a man, and one of the key requests was that God would “sanctify [His disciples] by the truth; [God’s] word is truth” (John 17:17). Truth best takes root when taught communally, whereas individualized reading weaken the transforming power of the Gospel. This concept will be addressed later. Jesus wanted the disciples to be sanctified by the word for strength, for he was “[sending] them into the world” (John 17:18). They would surely suffer persecution at the hand of the evil one, but Jesus asks God to set them apart, to make them different, by their love.35 This love will come by the Spirit of Truth (John 16:12), and indeed will unite all who would believe in Jesus (John 17:20ff). Christians who suffer at the hand of persecutors count it as joy to share in the sufferings of Jesus (Acts 4:5), and are united by the truth of the Gospel. Passion is the Latin word for “suffer,” and com is the word for “together,” so quite literally to have compassion is to suffer together with Christ, and with one another.36 Jesus’ death and resurrection resounds in the hearts of all who believe as they proclaim it communally to one another throughout trials as well as to those who do not know. His truth, love expressed in sacrificial death, is truly experienced in community. Spiritual truths, as mentioned before, are found primarily in community. Common thought of the day yields to personal Bible study to the extent that someone with a shaky spirituality replies to accountability with “I haven’t read my bible much lately,” as if God works primarily and exclusively through individual readings of scripture. Devotional books and journals have their place, and indeed tend to needs, but they can be quite selective rather than communally, and canonically inclusive. We as Christians, or even as the people of God, have gathered to hear truth since before synagogues emerged. Moses and Joshua read the law to the commune (Deuteronomy 31:11; Joshua 8:34). Shaphan read truth to the people when Hilkiah found the Book of the Law (2 Kings 22:8). Ezra read day and night to the people after the completion of the wall in Jerusalem (Nehemiah 8), which resulted in the first assembled corporate worship service (Nehemiah 8:18; 9:3). The practice continues well into the first century in 35

36

Moore, 254.

Harper, Douglas. “Compassion.” Online Etymology Dictionary. November 2001 .

Schaubert 16 synagogues (Acts 13:15ff) and even for the reading of the epistles as indicated by Paul’s personal address to large groups of people (Romans 16). Even long after the printing press, people only read scripture in assemblies – because of limited texts, until the manipulation of Luther came along. Placing scripture into the hands of common man had the potential to be both a blessing and a curse, and indeed it has been both. For the longest time, the idea of reading to oneself was completely foreign. The great majority of Christians receive their Biblical Education through Sunday morning services, small groups/Bible studies, or universities and colleges (both have etymological roots meaning "corporation or society"), and less from personal Bible study. Paul himself speaks of how Christ’s saving crucifixion merges with the internal work of the Spirit in order that individuals would become children of God living and loving within the Kingdom. He prayed for this in Ephesians 3:16-18, that Christ would dwell in their hearts to help them understand “together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ” (emphasis mine).37 Truth exists apart from community, but finds its best reading and application in the working out of love within the community. Sacramental Sanctification Sacraments, by nature, are a working out of love. God grants us his Spirit “through the church and her sacraments.”38 These sacraments are not merely simple symbols of loyalty to truth, but moments when God meets us head-on with the authority and force of his intimate company.39 Noted as the “visible Word,” the Reformers taught the sacraments of baptism and Holy Communion not along the lines of receiving grace, nor of holding the word within, but that through the sacraments, the Spirit directs the believer to truth.40 Communion certainly affects people on a personal level, for it can kill individuals. Baptism would seem to be a very individualistic experience within the practical theology of many 37

Donald Bloesch. The Holy Spirit: Works and Gifts (Downers Grove: IVP, 2000) 274.

38

Merton, 59.

39

Bloesch, 284.

40

Bloesch, 276.

Schaubert 17 congregations, and communion would appear to be completely shared. But is there an overarching theme between the two? If there exists an encounter at which a believer truly experiences truly personal and intimate worship that furthers his sanctification, surely it would be in the sacrament of baptism. Of the two sacraments, baptism involves the individual. Within the waters of baptism, the individual is directed toward the Spirit of God (the gift of the Spirit) and toward his or her utter reliance on God’s grace.41 Baptism is indeed a personal decision and the act of an individual – no one can be saved through the faith of another.42 Even though it truly comes about through the choice of an individual, there are huge overtones that involve the body of Christ, His church. Believers have identified this sacrament as “Christian baptism for eighteen centuries, because it symbolizes at once both our own death unto sin and our revival in the kingdom of favor, and the death of our adorable Lord for sin with his resurrection to glory.”43 Christians cling to this symbol, this sacrament, not only as a testament to the death of the old man, but also as the death of Christ. Neither of these deaths, however, is simple or natural. Pretending as if Christ Jesus died of natural causes promotes delusion, for there were no accidents in his death. It was cruel and brutal murder. Not only this, but no one took His life from Him. Indeed Christ Himself said that “no one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord” (John 10:18). He allowed Himself to be captured. He did not fight back, but embraced His murder as His captors set it before Him. This same phenomenon occurs in baptism. It marks the beginning of a sacrificial life, which is neither simple nor natural. At baptism, the Christian not only dies unto sin, more than this, he willingly offers his old sinful self to be murdered by the church. The very immersion of a believer can turn into an act of true murder in an instant if the baptizer’s motives slip out of the realm of truth and into that of sin. It is an act of 41

Bloesch, 284.

42

Though this would seem to be a sort of straw man, many churches today honestly function as if Jesus was only a personal Lord and savior. It is the “best decision of your life” and has no bearing on the community. This is my personal experience in my home congregation, where even communion, until recently, seemed to be an individualistic event. 43

James Wallis. The British Millennial Harbinger V.6, third series (London: Arthur Hall, 1853) 365 emphasis original.

Schaubert 18 drowning, and it can only happen if the soon-to-be Christian subjects himself to the community. This provokes earlier images of relational contact. In Matthew 23, Jesus rebukes the Pharisees at their own dinner table for swearing on gold and gifts that are sanctified by contact. “Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? . . . Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred?” (Matthew 23:17, 19). Also, 1 Corinthians 7:14 reveals that a believing husband can sanctify an unbelieving wife, and vice versa. Through the church in baptism, the believer begins relational contact through self-subjugation to another. With the sacrificial love existing in the Trinity (as illustrated in Jesus’ blood – Hebrews 10:10, 14, 29), the church uses baptism as a crossing point between the divine and common, a sacrament. Heaven collides into earth at baptism. With this and similar occurrences, the church is edified. She loves. Even more communal language accompanies the sacrament when Paul speaks of it as the “one baptism” of the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:5). Communion obviously, as indicated by the name, involves the community – the body. “Because there is one body we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf” (1 Corinthians 10:17). Bread and wine symbolize the body and blood of the Christ, but they are more than mere symbols. We participate in a feast of mixed emotions. One side mourns the death of Christ, not only for remembrance sake, but also as the very participation in the suffering and death of Christ. “For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26). Because of this participation, this proclamation of truth, anyone eating or drinking in “an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 11:27). Jesus’ blood, His death, stands as the only standard worth uniting around. Through taking the cup and the loaf we “proclaim the Lord’s death.” Appropriately, communion embodies compassion. “Suffering is wasted if we suffer entirely alone. Those who do not know Christ, suffer alone. Their suffering is no communion.”44 We suffer together with Christ, and are bonded to one another as we participate in the Eucharist (euv-caris) – the good gift. Tears soon fade to cheers, however, when the tone of joy 44

Merton, 85.

Schaubert 19 overcomes the suffering. A reflection of the coming wedding feast is found in the bread and wine, “tangible signs of our future feast with Christ” (Luke 14:15).45 Though Clark Pinnock would argue that the tone of joy is the only one appropriate to communion, Paul disagrees. After the passage on the “one body” with its members “offering [their] bodies as living sacrifices” (Romans 12:1, 5) the Apostle goes on to say “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn” (Romans 12:15).46 Even more engaging is the fact that this command wedges itself in the middle of Paul’s broader discourse on love (Romans 12:9-21). We suffer with Christ, taking on his call to pick up our cross (Mark 8:34, Luke 9:23), and we rejoice together, progressing the world toward the future feast. Both aspects find their power in the blood, the death, of Christ and his resurrection testifies to what will one day be restored (Romans 8:28-30, 32, 34). The Eucharist grounded in the mournful cross cannot but progress the world toward joyful heaven. Altogether, an individual “cannot exist without communion; but every form of communion which denies or suppresses the person, is inadmissible.”47 Communism cannot be the example nor standard for the people of God to become this one body, for it smothers the individual, but communion is still the prime example and standard. Though they ultimately exist for the benefit of the community, the easiest way to retain personhood is through spiritual disciplines. Spiritual Disciplines Facilitate Sanctification Faith begins regeneration for a person. For that beginning to become the sanctifying love of Christ, disciplines help work out faith in love. Congregational worship, passionate prayer, Bible study, and meditation are all crucial in sustaining the oaths made at baptism and through communion to sustain the faith given to those saints who have gone before, and now given to us, through works of love. However, the disciplines are not primarily for the private life, but rather they fortify our faith and amplify

45

Clark H Pinnock, Flame of Love: A Theology of the Holy Spirit (Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1996) 153.

46

Pinnock, 153.

47

Stanley Grenz, The Social God and the Relational Self (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2001) 52.

Schaubert 20 our testimony as the Holy Spirit leads us toward the needs of our neighbor.48 Richard Foster, in his beautiful book Celebration of Discipline, would argue that our good deeds do not take effort, they merely radiate out from a nature that is good. The “inner sanctuary of our lives” has the Fruit of the Spirit from God’s grace, and as a result we discipline ourselves for more.49 In other words, disciplines bring about sanctification. By no means does sanctification happen on human terms – Foster is correct about that. Yet, as will be addressed later, the fruit of the spirit come by God’s grace and terms, which is faith expounded through love in service to and from the church. Any discussion on sanctification must address the disciplines; for they hold a prominent stance in Christianity. Disciplines, though they never sanctify people, facilitate sanctification through the community.

Personal disciplines, those of the individual, only fuel this end. Yes, God works through

the disciplines in part, but they are not the norm. Disciplines, by their very nature, deviate from the normal order of doing things. Sabbath rests from work. Fasting abstains from eating. Solitude withdraws from community to be alone with God, and is often coupled with Bible study, a break from production to sharpen the tool of the mind. Celebration puts a break in the week, or year, from work and the Sabbath. This break allows room for enjoyment of such things as harvest, or more importantly, worship to God commonly seen in groups. Prayer lets go of our control and seeks God’s heart (not to mention that the two primary components of prayer adoration and intercession50 are not focused on the self).51, 52 Nearly all of the disciplines, therefore, deviate53 from the natural state of love working out in 48

Bloesch, 323.

49

Richard J. Foster, Celebration of Discipline (San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1998) 6, 9.

50

Bloesch, 323.

51

See list of disciplines in Foster, v.

52

Another curiosity of this other-focused prayer is in the Lord’s Prayer. In every major line of the prayer, Jesus never uses “I”, even though He is demonstrating proper form and posture. He prays “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one” (Matthew 6:9-13, emphasis mine). 53

Deviation can often be a negative term, but here it is not. By deviation, I mean that disciplines are part of a rhythm within life that progress the primary purpose – sacrificial, transforming love. In no way does this mean

Schaubert 21 community to gain some sort of power, only to step right back into the action. Confession is an odd duck since it straddles the realms of deviation and existence.54 On one hand, it steps away and deviates from the normal isolation of things, but on the other hand it represents vulnerability as a way of existence. In the words of Henri Nouwen “Thorough confession, the dark powers are taken out of their carnal isolation, brought into the light, and made visible to the community. Through forgiveness, they are disarmed and dispelled and a new integration between body and spirit is made possible.”55 Thus, vulnerability is also a state of being. The term “confessing church,” therefore, is both one of faithful confession and testimony to the death of Christ and also a confessing, vulnerable community. This leads to the other realm of the disciplines –those that develop a state of being. Disciplines that work toward a state of being, specifically vulnerability, submission, and simplicity, all exist for the immediate benefit of the community. Submission embodies itself through community to God (Ephesians 5:21; also 1 Peter 2:13). By the strong subjecting themselves to the conscience of the weak, the body is led to wholeness and peace (Romans 14:15-23). But subjecting oneself to the community is not the only sort of simplicity that can be worked out. Simplicity, the discipline of existing on less so that others can live, comes primarily from Jesus’ claim that “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money” (Luke 16:13). Christ Jesus announced His war on materialism, so that in simple living, we might give what we do not use to the community, and out of giving, we might become generous, loving people.56 A change in lifestyle must occur for simplicity to take place, and for generosity to result. All in all, the natural order of things is for people to be living in that disciplines hinder the walk of faith, but that they in fact facilitate further growth. This understanding is crucial if sanctification is to be truly understood in light of relational contact known as sacrificial love. Disciplines are the handmaidens of proactive service to others. 54

Again, with an understanding of deviation, “existence” disciplines are those that are part of the experience much like waves in the ocean. Though waves are part of the ocean’s rhythm, they are not the ocean. “Cold” or “blue” might describe the ocean as a whole, which are claims on its “existence,” but deviant waves facilitate its depth and change. The ocean is blue, but it has waves. 55

Henri J. M Nouwen, In the Name of Jesus (New York, Crossroads: 2002) 68. 56

Foster, 82.

Schaubert 22 loving communion with one another. Any and all disciplines that do not move toward a state of being exist to add power to the natural state of being – faith working out in love. This is the whole of humanity. Where did this humanity originate? After the earth had been created, “God created man in his own image” (Genesis 1:27). Commonly, theologians see this imago dei (image of God) as a sort of similarity to God, which includes specific character traits and abilities implanted deep within the being of every human.57 Others believe that this image has not so much to do with man’s dominion over the world, rationality, or ability to create, but rather represents a fundamental relationship between created and Creator.58 Henri Nouwen tells the story of Adam, his mentally handicapped friend: Adam keeps telling me over and over again that what makes us human is not our mind but our heart, not our ability to think, but our ability to love. Whoever speaks about Adam as a vegetable or an animal-like creature misses the sacred mystery that Adam is fully capable of receiving and giving love. He is fully human, not a little bit human, not half human, not nearly human, but fully, completely human because he is all heart. And it is our heart that is made in the image and likeness of God.59 Adam represents that fundamental relationship of love, the image of God. Sanctification through sacrificial love achieves this image. By this emphasis, the image is not so much a noun, like a statue, but a verb – “the creature ‘images’ the Creator” as in the image a mirror reflects.60 Irenaeus would go so far as to say that God created Adam with the intent that he would “grow in divine likeness” working closer and closer to relate with God and man. This does not mean that love is the only character trait of God, nor that sanctification only instills love, but rather through love we are sanctified into the character of God, His character that is centered in a love as Trinity. When God sets something apart, it happens through relational connection, making His ownership ever present. People, therefore, develop in divine likeness towards perfected humans. The imago dei for Irenaeus was a destiny, and after the fall, Christ’s sacrifice would 57 58

Grenz, 141.

59

Henri Nouwen, quoted in Anderson, 148.

60

Grenz, 162.

Schaubert 23 consummate this intent at the eschaton. 61 More than this, Jesus represents the completed image of God, for He existed as divinity revealed. John, the beloved Apostle, introduces this (John 1:14), and Paul develops the idea in Colossians 1:15-20. In this passage, Paul unites the entire life of Christ Jesus, a life that revolved around the resurrection (v.18) and the crucifixion (v. 20), as the official climax of God’s redemptive history. Imago dei and the complete story of God revealing Himself through his wisdom and the Genesis account, Paul argues, can only be truly seen in the “life, death, resurrection, and exaltation of Jesus of Nazareth, who as the preeminent Christ is the [image] of God.”62 Jesus makes God known, and is so the imago dei in perfectly redeeming man. Through the cross, Jesus unveiled the eternality of God Almighty, proving Himself as the very wisdom of the Father through which the heavens and earth were created, or as Thomas Hewit said, “He who fully reveals God redeems man.”63 Romans 8:29 and 1 Corinthians 15:49 both amplify the imago dei as a destiny, a goal to be achieved. In the Romans pericope, Paul shows that the transformation into Jesus is the solution to living within the kingdom of Satan – the world. Through 1 Corinthians 15:49, he explains that in bearing the likeness of Jesus, we can rid ourselves of the issue of “morality bound up with natural earthly existence.”64 Romans 8:29 reflects on Genesis 1:26-27 through the lens of the cross. Countless theologians have debated over verse 28, but few would argue the notion that verse 29 tells of the future of the confessing, faithful Church in sharing His splendor.65 As Pinnock would say, “The living flame of love is preparing souls for union with love” (John 17:22-23).66

61

Grenz, 177.

62

Grenz, 217-218.

63

Thomas Hewit, quoted in Stanley Grenz. The Social God and the Relational Self (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2001) 222. 64

Grenz, 224.

65

Grenz, 225.

66

Pinnock, 119.

Schaubert 24 This union with Christ involves a working out in the present, for “we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”67 Presently, the church is in the act of being sanctified into that loving, relational imago dei, and the matching texts of Colossians 3:9-11 and Ephesians 4:22-24 reveal the friction connecting the indicative and the imperative, between what has been done and what must be done. Prompting the Colossians of their new standing as humans, Paul points to baptism as their death in Christ (2:12, 20), and so too their resurrection with Christ (3:1, 3). By such a viewpoint, they must reorient their lives, throwing out the bad (vv. 5-9a) and taking in the good (vv. 12-17). The behavior of these believers should reflect their state of being in Christ, which was embodied in baptism.68 To the Ephesians, Paul first gives instructions on the internal life of the church (4:1-6) and then instructs them not to live as pagans (vv. 17-19). His argument then immediately lunges into the reasoning for such actions, namely, the truth of the Gospel (vv. 20-21). In Colossians, the imago dei imagery can easily be detected, but Paul never expressly comes out and uses the terminology in his Ephesian parallel (v.24). Still, as he did in Colossians, Paul explains that what is “put on” is, in fact, the “new human.” But what exactly is this “new human”? Implementing his own language used in 2 Corinthians 5:17, Paul in Ephesians 2:15 explains that Christ “created in himself one new man out of [Jews and Gentiles].” New humanity, at its core, shines forth as a shared unit, a body. In a precise reading, this text never says that Christ is the new human, but rather generates it through his death. As the bride moves more and more toward new humanity, “righteousness and holiness” come forth as the central attributes through God’s grace, traits that exemplify God (Ps. 144:17 and Deut. 32:4 LXX; cf. also Rev 16:5).69 All of this cannot happen within individualism. Even if someone were to read these passages in a personal Bible study, they could not

67

Grenz, 241.

Grenz, 251-252. 68 69

Grenz, 259-263.

Schaubert 25 obey them for “Man cannot be man ‘by himself’; he can only be man in community. For love can only operate in community and only in this operation of love is man human . . . Only if he is loving can he be truly man.”70 Love is not the only aspect of the imago dei, but it is the most critical part of it. This very depiction of the triune God explains also his connection with his creation, “For God so loved the world that he gave . . .” (John 3:16). Perhaps John phrased it better in his first epistle: “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love” (John 4:7-9 – emphasis mine). As stated before, love entirely initiates and concludes our relationship with God and with people. Sanctification remains motivated by, sustained with, and culminated in love. Love cultivates fruit, and when the fruit is embodied, it looks like the new humanity, or rather, like Jesus. IV. The Fruit of the Spirit: The Servant’s Life by the Spirit “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23). These are the qualities Paul hoped the Galatians would develop in time, to the point that he was “in the pains of childbirth until Christ [was] formed in [them]” (Galatians 4:19). His desire was for them to destroy their evil praxis and become sanctified, enhancing their faith in demonstrative love. For this to occur, the Spirit must produce in them a “sanctified conduct,” a “renewed nature,” which is his fruit.71 Curiously, each fruit seems as abstract as any concept such as atonement or sanctification, but at closer look, they seem quite concrete. Each depicts a relational quality. Love, patience, kindness, faithfulness, self-control, and the rest are all relational words that, like love before them, cannot occur simply within the interior of a person. Patience, when not used in a list, is used in the New Testament to describe God’s tolerance toward man as He waits for their transformation (Romans 9:22, 2:4). Kindness surfaces in Acts 28:2, when the Maltan islanders hospitably built a fire for those shipwrecked. Self-control commonly occurs referring to sexual

759.

70

Emil Brunner, quoted in Grenz, 312.

71

“Sanctification.” Ryken, Leland, et. al. Dictionary of Biblical Imagery (England: InterVarsity, 1998) 758-

Schaubert 26 temptation. Paul exhorts couples fasting from sex to come together again after the time expires “so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control” (1 Corinthians 7:5). All of the disciplines work out this way. Even joy, seemingly the most individual of the fruits, finds its best illustration at the renewal of all things when God tells his people to “be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy” (Isaiah 65:18). “Overflowing joy welled up in rich generosity” within the Macedonian churches, and Paul exhorts the Corinthians to share in that same joy (2 Corinthians 8:2, 6-7). Each fruit exists to radiate outward. Paul emphasizes this in verse 6 by commanding the Galatians to “live by the Spirit” which denies the cravings of the sinful nature. Later on (vv.25-26) he uses this phrase “live by the Spirit” again and expounds on what life by the Spirit is not: “[becoming] conceited, provoking and envying each other.” Immediately (6:1), Paul launches into a discourse on restoring someone who is caught in a sin. We are to “carry each others burdens, and in this way [we] will fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2). These Galatian believers had previously provoked one another and had become weighed down by the burden of slavery – the Old Testament circumcision (Galatians 5:2-6). Pointing out that all this is folly (v.6), the Apostle continues, proclaiming assuredly “the only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.” Talking about love goes only so far, but loving the unlovable teaches us to love.72 Paul continues (vv. 13-15) with the centering on the law which is “summed up in a single command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’” (Galatians 5:14). Service in the community, for the community, and from the community breaks walls down (v.14-16). Sandwiched between all of this communal service talk lies the acts of the sinful nature “sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred,” etc. (Galatians 5:19-21). These depict someone who is under the law of sin and death, the old humanity, and the only way for a man to experience new humanity, the fruit (vv.22-23), is to give and receive faith expressed through love, to more than just a human, but part of a redeemed humanity.

72

Yaconelli, 91.

Schaubert 27 Some have tried to depict this in literary works on utopians societies. It's curious to note the word itself is based on the words "ou" (no) and "topoj" (place), meaning quite literally "the place that is not." In the case of Sir Thomas More, it exists as an island which existed as a politically, legally, and socially perfect community. Plato also visualizes this in his Republic, where the wrongs of society, namely poverty and misery, disappear.73 Instead, a general equality and pacifist stance paint the society with beauty. In virtually every utopian book since,74 the current society at the time of the author – or one like it – is taken to an extreme to show its flaws. How curious that the only society that is truly being perfected toward this Utopia, the new humanity, is the church. The Holy Spirit breathes life into the church of Jesus Christ, turning the “Utopia” into the “Eutopia” – the good place. “There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day” (Psalm 46:4-5). The Psalmist goes on to speak of the nations falling, God lifting his voice and the earth melting, but his is our refuge – the city of God, his church. She, with all of her perfected fruit, is the image of God in the world, the love that brings about “eutopia.” God created man to be in a relationship with himself as well as with humanity. Only by love can this be achieved. No human ideal realized will bring it about. The sanctification of humanity stands in love, as humans stand in love with one another and with God through the power of the Spirit within the community. Conclusion Return to the teeter-totter that Anderson and Saucy set up before. 75 On one side sit the people who see themselves as saved by God and nothing can change. The other hosts those who are trying to attain what they already have. Jesus is the hinge. This illustration accurately portrays two things: [1] Jesus is the center of our sanctification and [2] the common thought is that sanctification has to do with 73

Plato’s Republic: Socrates – Adeimantus

74 George Orwell's 1984, Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, Anthony Burgess 's A Clockwork Orange, Alan Moore's V for Vendetta, The Reality Bug, Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, Ayn Rand's Anthem, Lois Lowry's The Giver, Samuel Butler's "Erewhon" or Chuck Palahniuk's Rant , Half Life 2 with Wallace Breen and the combines' oppression over earth. 75

Anderson, 183.

Schaubert 28 what we do in our personal life (devotion and piety). Each side supports “once saved always saved” and “almost saved always trying,” respectively. Granted, Anderson is arguing for the development of ownership concerning the responsibility for sanctification. However, in either case, whether the burden is placed entirely on God or on the individual, the focus is on the self rather than others. Focusing on others, one will do nothing but attempt to become sanctified, and never learn to love. Instead, everyone must get off that teeter-totter and move to the other end of the playground that is filled with equipment centered on Jesus. Across the way, beyond the swing set of personal worship (where worship leaders sometimes give a quick push), and past the slide of study stands erected a wonderful attraction: the merrygo-round. On the carousel, the outside edges, the spinning disc, the protective bars, and everyone riding connects all to the center. . But here, on the carousel, the rules are different. There is no problem of balancing faith and personal works on the carousel. Our job is to make the disc spin, and it does not spin primarily for us, but for everyone riding. The carousel is the church, and we need everyone to make her come alive. For it to ride fast and smooth, there must be someone on every side, running for everyone else. By serving the group, we bear the fruit of our labor both in them and in us. This is how James showed his faith by what he did: it was not about him (James 2). Works, in context, are not personalized disciplines, but proactive deeds of love for another. Of course God’s sovereignty plays a part, after all we would fly off if we were not grounded, and sure we have to work, but neither can be taken to the extreme on the carousel. No balancing act is needed when we serve our brothers, for we are all along to start the ride, and enjoy the ride. In chasing after (loving) the brother or sister on the other side, and in their chasing us, we all find unity in our center. Seesaws have their purpose, but none go so fast and true as the merry-go-round. The Holy Spirit uses the thought-driven see-saws, and even the swings of personal worship to sanctify us, but his primary mode is through the carousel, the church of Christ Jesus. Is the Confessing Church the Holy Spirit’s primary sanctifying agent? Though his list is probably not all-inclusive, Edward Bickerseth painted sanctification with seven shades: It includes (1) an ever-deepening knowledge of the things of God, (2) a growing delight in the heavenly duties of prayer and praise, (3) a more vigorous faith in the salvation of Christ, (4) a

Schaubert 29 more entire submission of our will to God’s will, (5) a more resolute crucifying of the flesh and a more earnest cultivation of the fruits of the Spirit, (6) a readier willingness to serve and suffer for our Master here, and (7) a brighter prospect of reigning and rejoicing with him for ever76 Truth is most commonly experienced in community (1). Prayer and praise, in scripture, are most often communal, leaning away from the self and toward others and God (2). Faith in the salvation of Jesus comes via hearing, but is grounded in the cross. Two of the most vivid locals where the divine meets the common are the sacraments. Neither can exist outside of community (though they do not suppress the individual), and also bring about an enthusiasm to serve and endure for our Lord here (4, 6). The death to flesh and growth of fruit comes by faith expressed in love to and from the community (5), and the feast, symbolized by the sacraments, is truly a “brighter prospect” as the proactive love of the community brings about God’s redemptive history (7). None of these, though Bickersteth would disagree, can occur when a person withdraws from the Confessing Church, for the confession of truth acted out in love and the vulnerability of truthful confession are far too crucial. St. Francis of Assisi, though praying for himself, expressed his desire for this faith working out in love in his prayer: Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love. Where there is doubt, faith. Where there is despair, hope. Where there is darkness light. Where there is sadness, joy. O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console; to be understood, as to understand; to be loved, as to love; for it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned. It is in dying that we are born to eternal life.77 The Holy Spirit’s primary agent of sanctification in the believer is the Confessing Church. God created man relationally in His image and continually turns fallen man into the likeness of his Son Jesus through the truth of the Gospel, the sacraments of baptism and communion, spiritual disciplines, and 76

Edward Bickersteth. The Holy Spirit (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1973) 143. Joseph Louis Bernardin, The Gift of Peace (Chicago: Loyola, 1997) 153. St. Francis is not here arguing for a communal sanctification within, in fact it is an individualistic prayer of his. However, within it lies terminology that expresses the truth represented in this paper. His personal prayer will be answered in Christ’s community, the Confessing Church. 77

Schaubert 30 spiritual gifts. Love continually brings about new life in a new humanity, and true love only comes about through the power of the Holy Spirit sanctifying people via the community. Christ’s bride, and her love in the world, is His agent of life.

Schaubert 31 Works Cited Anderson, Neil and Saucy, Robert. The Common Made Holy. Eugene: Harvest House, 1997. Bernardin, Joseph Louis. The Gift of Peace. Chicago: Loyola, 1997. Bickersteth, Edward. The Holy Spirit. Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1973. Bloesch, Donald. The Holy Spirit: Works and Gifts. Downers Grove: IVP, 2000. Carlyle, Thomas. Life of Martin Luther. New York: American Book Exchange, 1879. Craigh, Hugh. A Popular History of Germany V.4. New York: Henry J. Johnson, 1878. Dieter, Melvin E., et al. Five Views on Sanctification. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1987. Estep, James Riley Jr., et. al. The Heritage of Christian Education. Joplin: College Press, 2003. Foster, Richard J. Celebration of Discipline. San Francisco: Harper, 1998. Grenz, Stanley. The Social God and the Relational Self. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2001. Grudem, Wayne. Systematic Theology. Grand Rapids: InterVarsity Press, 1994. Harper, Douglas. “Compassion.” Online Etymology Dictionary. November 2001 . Harris, Randal. The Contemporaries Meet the Classics on the Holy Spirit. Los Angeles: Howard, 2004. House, H. Wayne. Charts of Christians Theology and Doctrine. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1992. Merton, Thomas. No Man is an Island. Orlando: Harcourt Brace Javanovich, 1983. Moore, Mark. The Chronological Life of Christ V. 2. Joplin: College Press, 1997. Nouwen, Henri J. M. In the Name of Jesus. New York: Crossroad, 2002. Pinnock, Clark H. Flame of Love: A Theology of the Holy Spirit. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1996.

Schaubert 32 Procksch “a[gioj” Theological Dictionary of the New Testament Ed. Gerhard Kittel, vol. 2 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2006. Ryken, Leland, et. al. Dictionary of Biblical Imagery - “Sanctification.” England: InterVarsity, 1998. Vine, W.E. Vine’s Amplified Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words. Iowa Falls: Word Bible, 1991. Wallis, James. The British Millennial Harbinger V.6, third series. London: Arthur Hall, 1853. Willard, Dallas. Renovation of the Heart. Colorado Springs: Nav Press, 2002. Wright, N.T. Who Was Jesus?. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1992. Yaconelli, Michael. Messy Spirituality. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002.